JNS
"Tremendous efforts are being made at all times to secure the release of all our captives—both the living and the deceased," the prime minister said.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington on Wednesday night with relatives of hostages held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip for 640 days and counting, his office said on Thursday.
During the meeting, the premier told the families that he raised the hostage issue "extensively" in his meetings with President Donald Trump this week, according to the Israeli Prime Minister's Office.
"Tremendous efforts are being made at all times to secure the release of all our captives—both the living and the deceased," Netanyahu said.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters in Malaysia on Thursday that Washington remained "hopeful" for a hostages-for-ceasefire agreement with the Hamas terrorist organization.
"But we've seen talks fall apart, in the past, at that stage of proximity talks," CBS News cited Rubio as saying at a media availability on the sidelines of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur.
The sticking point is that Hamas "basically wants Israel to withdraw completely and allow them to go back to being Hamas," Rubio told reporters. "Obviously, the Israelis aren't going to agree to that."
Trump is currently focused on getting Hamas terrorists to agree to the Qatar-brokered proposal that Jerusalem has already approved, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday.
U.S. Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff will travel to Doha, Qatar, this week to join the truce talks between Israel and Hamas, Leavitt revealed.
"I don't want to comment on the details of the arrangement out of respect for these negotiations, but an agreeable and appropriate ceasefire has been sent to Hamas," she said.
Witkoff, speaking with the press on Monday evening before a working dinner with Trump and Netanyahu, said, "We have an opportunity to finally get a peace deal … and I'm hopeful for it very quickly."
The United States is pressuring Qatar to "deliver" on efforts to finalize a deal for the hostages' release, according to Israel Hayom. A source close to the talks told the outlet that from the White House's perspective, with Jerusalem having responded positively to the latest truce proposal, it is now Qatar's responsibility to ensure the terrorist group agrees as well.
Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed Al Ansari stated on Tuesday that the talks "have not begun as of yet," but that Doha was speaking to both sides separately to reach a framework for the negotiations.
"I don't think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this," according to the spokesman.
Last week, Trump said that "we're close to a deal on Gaza," adding, "I think there's a good chance we have a deal with Hamas during the coming week. We've gotten a lot of the hostages out, but pertaining to the remaining hostages, quite a few of them will be coming out."
Fifty hostages remain in captivity in Gaza, including at 20 to 22 who are believed to be alive 640 days after being taken during the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, cross-border massacre in southern Israeli communities.
